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Drivers can’t be on cellphones under bill that passed House committee

For the FCN

Updated:
Feb. 23, 2018, 6:21 p.m.

ATLANTA — With Georgia having experienced a spike in both
fatal crashes and auto insurance premiums, legislators advanced a proposal to
make it illegal to hold a cellphone while driving.

By a non-unanimous voice vote, a House committee on Wednesday
voted in favor of House Bill 673 by Rep. John Carson,
R-Marietta, to crack down on distracted driving. It now awaits House debate.

In Georgia, it is illegal to text behind the wheel, but drivers
are currently allowed to dial and hold their phone. Law enforcement officers
have testified that they often cannot tell whether a driver is texting or
merely dialing, making it difficult to enforce the law.

“We just did a distracted driving detail (earlier this week)
because that’s one of our leading contributing factors to crashes here in the
cities,” said Sgt. Kevin Holbrook, spokesman for the Gainesville Police
Department.

Many distracted-driving crashes in the city are fender benders,
but Holbrook noted that when investigating single-vehicle crashes with
fatalities officers often find a mobile phone lodged in the dashboard or in a
footwell.

And at the moment, law enforcement has a difficult time stopping
people from using their phones while driving.

“Right now, the texting-and-driving law, almost everybody
acknowledges, is essentially unenforceable,” said Rep. Bert Reeves, R-Marietta.
“I believe this (bill) will be enforceable.”

The new law would be clear: Holding a phone in the hand while
driving is illegal unless the driver is an on-duty law enforcement officer, a
public utility employee or contractor responding to an emergency or a member of
the public calling 911.

Under Carson’s measure, drivers would still be allowed to use
GPS navigation and talk via a hands-free device. Violators would be fined at
least $300.

“It would definitely help clear things up for us in law
enforcement,” Holbrook said. “When we do stop an individual, as of right now
they can have their phone in their hand. They can be doing multiple things,
from their GPS to changing a song. It’s very difficult for us to enforce
texting-while-driving (laws).”

Using a hand-held cellphone while driving has been banned in 15
states, as well as the District of Columbia.

According to the National Safety Council, more than 1,500 people
died in auto crashes in Georgia in 2016, a 34.5 percent rise from 2014. Based
on the significant decrease in traffic fatalities that other states have
experienced after passing similar hands-free laws, Carson told the committee
that his proposal could save around 300 lives each year.

Carson said the issue caught his attention when he found out that
auto insurance rates had been rapidly rising across the state, in conjunction
with an increasing number of fatal crashes. In 2016, Georgia personal auto
insurance rates went up an average of 12 percent, the most in the nation,
Carson said. Drivers who are texting, surfing the internet or using social
media apps behind the wheel, are largely to blame for the rise in accidents,
Carson believes.

Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, is against the bill. He said those
who text while driving should be punished, but those who are holding a
cellphone against their ear should not be penalized.

If the bill becomes law, Harris Blackwood of the Governor’s
Office of Highway Safety said his office would help put in place an aggressive
public service campaign so that drivers would be aware of the law change.

“What we want to do here is not just pass a law, pass a
regulation: We want to start a culture change,” Carson said. “This is the DUI
issue of our generation.”